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Lord Davies of Brixton (Lab)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 16 September 2026

Debate

Procedure and Privileges

Contribution

My Lords and Baronesses, I want to follow up the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Bellingham. What my noble friend the Senior Deputy Speaker failed to mention was the introduction for the first time of a reference to dress code in the Companion—previously, it was, in effect, folklore. I am not against putting that in, because the term “business attire” is meaningless. You cannot take the way people dress here as business attire; I take it to mean what people wear in the City and Canary Wharf. In truth, the only people now wearing ties for business purposes are estate agents and funeral directors. The tie is disappearing. If “business attire” means anything, it means that we would not be wearing ties. The truth is that the term is meaningless. It certainly means nothing in relation to the noble Baronesses in this House, who, in effect, can wear whatever they like.

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